Back to the 'ole Grind

Well, we survived MA. It was actually quite productive, we broke even from selling vintage toys, and we came back with a bunch of miscellaneous items (crafts, kitchen items) and many more to be mailed and even more bookmarked as future gifts. So, it was TON of work. Our 4 hour drive home from the airport took us 12 hours because Justin and I kept stopping to sleep. We were THAT tired! We finally made it home and went to the state fair!
Caleb and Mackenzie had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa, despite being sick when we left them. They not only got used to them but now that Grandma and Grandpa have left, Caleb and Mackenzie are both still asking about them. Kenzie even says "Papa"!

Well, Justin went back to school on Monday. This year is going to be one crazy year. In addition to his crazy schedule of classes, he has research he's trying to finish up, Boards he's studying for, and an extra online class that he's doing. Not to mention US! lol He's gonna work hard, but it's been so nice to have a summer he's having a hard time diving in right now!

As for me, I'm enjoying getting back to routine. We rearranged our furniture a few weeks ago and I'm LOVING it! It's also finally cooling down a bit so we stand being outside. And we have friends. That's always good. :) I'm working on sewing my shirt, making burp rags, and just enjoying my kiddos. I'm still working with the Young Women at church and that takes a lot of time, but it's very fun, too.

Caleb is now 3 years old! We had his party before we left for MA. Justin and I stayed up late working on his cake (pictures later). We had planned to do a water-themed fireman-type party...and woke up to a drizzly day. So we improvised. But Caleb didn't really wanna play any games anyway. So we watched the rocket launcher Justin had made, ate cake, and handed out goody bags. It was fun...just not the fun I'd planned on! Caleb is my little sweet heart. He loves being a "big boy" and loves "having a watch just like you do." He loves his sister but also forgets that she's not a toy and not as big as he is. He loves to sing his ABC's and pushing his bubble lawn mower around.

Mackenzie will be 15 months in 2 days, so I might as well give a bit of an update on her. She jabbers. Mama, Papa, Dada, Gaga (Caleb), "Dach" is dog, as well as any other animal. She loves to dance to music, signs "please," "more," "all done," and "banana." She loves to scream. YAY. we all love that stage, right? She has finally slowed down on teething, so she is SLEEPING at night. woo hoo! I can do a dance just for that! She wants to be just like Caleb and will play with cars and follow him around and then scream at him if he gets too close.

I love moments when my kids play well together. Just this morning they were pushing various toys around the sidewalk square and Mackenzie would veer off the sidewalk, Caleb would straighten her out and beckon for her to continue, and she would follow his lead. I love seeing that she trusts him, despite how much they egg each other on. They are both at a fun age and it's great to see them interact and play willingly with each other!

Well, that's about it! Life is happening and we are all growing and keeping busy!

From Sea to Shining Sea...well, almost.

 We have done our fair share of driving this summer! We've had 2 oil changes in less than a month, and the last one was 100 miles late. YEAH! But before the road adventures began, we started the fun here at home.

So...get ready...here's a quick whirlwind of an update.

 

Hiking in Northern Iowa, swimming at the Reservoir with friends, and a visit to the City Park mini-theme park with friends (Caleb so brave to go in one of those ferris-wheel-style basket rides...with his dear friend M. Just now he started crying when I told him she had moved away...aww!)

For Father's Day we all gave Justin a dutch oven. On our first camping trip for the summer, he made us breakfast! It was so yummy and it totally looks hard core! The kids loved camping, too!

Then we drove 15 hours to Gatlinburg, TN. LONG drive, short visit, and then LONG drive home. BUT, it was great to see my whole family (this was the Hart family reunion), and to meet my new sister-in-law, Thaciana! She's such a gem and so sweet! She doesn't speak much English, and I don't speak Portuguese, but late night hot tubs parties cross all language barriers! It was so much fun! And the scenery was beautiful! After we made it back home...we continued on to Utah to see Justin's family (18 hours drive time)!

Once in Utah we had fun with the Bountiful Fourth of July Parade and then a visit to Hill Air Force Museum. So impressive, so much fun!

We even got to meet up with some good ol' friends!! I love reunions, friends and family alike! Good to see you folk!

Caleb LOVED his cousins, on both sides.On my side, A is rather rowdy...and Caleb is a shadow. He picked up a few tricks from him. On Justin's side, A (odd that it's the same letter, lol) is also very rowdy...enough to eat dry wall when he was younger. Caleb loved playing with him, but since they are 2 months apart, the squabbles only increased by the minute they were together! 

We were blessed to be able to attend cousin J's baptism, too! Such an exciting time for him! 

We also went shooting (I have decided I really like a .22 revolver...), but I don't have any pictures of it! You can't go to Utah without visiting Temple Square, and it was so pleasant to take Caleb and Mackenzie there. 

After about 10 days of action packed fun in Utah, we started our drive home. That included a slight detour to the Dinosaur Museum...but then we decided to go through Colorado instead of Wyoming (why torture ourselves anymore?), and that also allowed us to go through Manti, where we were sealed. It was lovely to see the Manti temple again!

And the lower right picture, of our car next to...yes, you see it right! it's Mater! A random real Mater somewhere in Southern Utah! And just to spice it up even more...

And that's the condensed update! More adventures to follow, to be sure!

From Baby to Toddler

Mackenzie had her first birthday May 25, 2012. I can't believe she's already one year! I was coping and dealing with the idea at least a week before the celebratory day; I kept crying at the thought that she would no longer be my baby! Thankfully, I kept myself under control during her "party." I just made a simple cake and iced it with blue icing and put rubber duckies on it. Caleb loved being able to help her blow out the candle, too. No matter the size or extravagance, Mackenzie loved digging into all that sweetness!

 

Afterwards we opened presents. She loved the gifts from both sets of Grandparents and Caleb and she still enjoy playing with them together. She was especially thrilled to receive her very own helmet! YAHOO! I love this picture with Caleb and her signing "hat" to each other as if she's saying, "Look! I have one now, too!" She also had her first ride on an animal on the carousel, and she freaked out. 

Grandma Hart gave us numerous cute bows and barrettes and Mackenzie has since decided that they are cool. She loves me to put them in her hair; even if she pulls one out, she'll hand them to me insisting I put it back.

She also had her one year check up appointment recently. She was so brave: 3 shots and a blood sample! Here are her stats:
Head: 46.5 cm; about 85%tile
Length: 30.71 inches; 92%tile
Weight: 21 lbs 9 oz; 58%tile

So she's still pretty tall, but not very heavy. I'm not sure how, since she eats all the time! She took her first steps on Thursday, June 7. She's getting better and better! She loves bikes and loves being outside; she loves bears, especially Care Bears (yes! a girl after my own heart!); She loves balls, too, and Justin found her carrying around my soccer ball last week. We're getting close! She's also cut two more teeth this past week. It's been an eventful few weeks for her!

I love my Mackenzie. She is such a cuddle bug and will just give me hugs; she LOVES Justin and cries when he leaves the room; she gets so excited when he comes home from school!;  she hates me holding books for her but she loves reading books by herself; She loves Caleb and loves playing with him; and she loves putting her feet on the table. She is our darling baby girl...who is now a toddler! I can't believe she's already 1!

Happy Birthday, our precious daughter!

Delayed Post = Frustrated

So, I just spent time working on a post about Mackenzie birthday...and somehow the text didn't save from Picasa to online...LAME! so, that post will have to wait, because I'm too frustrated/annoyed to try and recreate it right now.

Don't you hate it when that happens??

Excitement in May

Is it sad that the whole new blogger interface update was new to me and I'm pretty sure it happened a while ago?


Anyway, May has been great! At the beginning of May, Justin had his white coat ceremony (more pictures to come, I hope). Basically, at Iowa they do it at the end of the first year instead of right when you start because they consider it kind of an "initiation." The students will now be working on actual patients at the clinic...starting today, actually. Yay! Ironically, Justin's first patient canceled. But, he gets to work on me in a couple of weeks! Just a cleaning for starters, so it'll be great.

Part of the celebration included a visit from Grandma and Grandpa A. Caleb LOVED seeing them again and soaked up their attention and love like the best of them. Mackenzie liked Grandpa more than Grandma, but even Grandma grew on her towards the end. All in all, it was a fun visit!

 
May has brought some nice warm weather, too, so we've been enjoying splashing around in the pool. This is in the backyard part of our complex and all the kiddos enjoy the cool water on a nice hot day!

We took a random drive to North eastern Iowa last weekend. It has a surprising amount of hills and trees and rivers and such: not what you imagine Iowa looking like. It was beautiful!! Very rural, but we found a quaint little town, Elkader, Iowa, that had an AWESOME quilting/fabric store.  Plus, we ate fried chicken on the drive!

 
 We had an FHE activity that Caleb was in charge of (of course, I helped a lot). We did The Little Red Hen story, and the copy that we checked out from the library happened to have a cake recipe at the back of it. So, as our activity/treat we made cake. And that involved flour. And that let to a flour fight and flour-covered children and kitchen floor. It was fun! It was a great activity, too.

And last but not least...May has brought a special birthday. Next post on that!